Tom and Ashley's Wedding in Dallas, Texas

The day of our wedding was overwhelmingly calm. The ladies and I enjoyed a slow (but early) morning chatting over breakfast sandwiches, bopping to early 00's music, and getting glammed up by our makeup artists. I'm told Tom's morning was fairly similar but also featured some recovery from the night before... Regardless, we both arrived at our church with beautiful stained glass windows (one of Tom's requests) right on schedule and eager for our first look.

Our amazing planner mapped out the perfect timeline. From our first look, through family formals, and downtime right until the ceremony, Tom remained by my side. It helped that part of the day feel evenly paced and full (not like the rush I was heavily warned of by former brides). Eventually, it was time for our reception: the dinner date I had most anticipated all year.

I can't thank our vendors enough for how perfectly our reception captured our vision. Honestly, they exceeded it. My most ardent request was for a room reveal. I had to see the designs I'd only caught glimpses of in mockups, and order sheets come to life before our guests joined us. It was absolutely stunning. I couldn't believe it was our wedding!

Our florist did an amazing job creating arrangements that elegantly married (ha!) our colors together. She even took care to feature our family flowers (orchid for mine, roses for his) throughout the room. Our DJ/ lighting guru selected the best lights to ensure the space felt warm-- a reflection of the underlying warmth in our relationship and an invitation for our guests to enjoy the evening as their own date. Our photographers even did a phenomenal job at capturing all of the details we saw (and missed) while preserving the vibrant emotions in their pictures. Looking back on them now, I am so overly grateful for how each vendor seemed to specially lean in to making our wedding magical.